EQC releases Stage 1 land damage report

21 Oct 2010

Media release

EQC has today released the Stage 1 geotechnical report into land damage caused by the Canterbury earthquake.

EQC's Chief Executive, Ian Simpson, said the report details the nature, cause and extent of land damage caused by the earthquake, the areas that have been most affected and, in broad terms, proposals to fix damaged land.

The report was developed for EQC by Tonkin and Taylor, a specialised New Zealand-owned environmental and engineering consultancy, with more than 50 years experience.

It identifies around 6,800 properties have been affected by land damage ranging from minor through to very severe, including around 1200 properties who had been most affected.

"Our first priority was to contact those most affected to tell them their land can and will be fixed. This is the situation in all but a few cases."

Mr Simpson said calls were made to the 1,200 claimants whose properties have been most seriously affected by land damage. Information packs, which included the Tonkin & Taylor geotechnical report on the land damage to Canterbury, were also couriered to those most affected homeowners.

In the report, Tonkin & Taylor have presented some proposals for land repair and protection which go beyond the scope of Earthquake Commission insurance cover.

"The Government has indicated it is committed to providing funding for this additional work to give greater protection to people's property should a similar earthquake happen in the future," Mr Simpson said.